Um, yeah, what she said

Except for the swimming part, the leg injury part, and the weight part, I could have posted what Emily did. My weight this week was precisely the same as last week (144.2) which shocked me a bit since I haven't even really been thinking about my diet and I haven't exercised since a week ago Monday when I went for a run. On Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday my fairly light work week turned into a really heavy work week (went from one federal grant due this week to three) so I just haven't been taking lunch breaks at all, and on the couple of occasions that I did take a break, it was to run errands I couldn't do at other times (scout shop only open 10 - 2, Halloween costume shopping with work people). Then I spent the weekend wedding dress shopping and making Halloween costumes.

Speaking of wedding dresses, I was wondering about the mirrors in that place that made me look much skinnier (but not fun-house skinny) than I am in real life. Turns out there is such a thing as a "skinny mirror" that they use in high end clothing shops (and some lower end ones too)--it's a way of hanging the mirror so it is slightly tilted so you appear taller and thinner than you really are. Some people hate them since you buy clothes based on how you look in the mirror then get home and don't look nearly so good. Some people love them and go out of their way to hang their mirrors at home the same way. It was a pretty obvious ploy--Katie pointed out in one of the photos Amy took that showed both her in the dress and her reflection that her mirror image really DID look thinner than she was--and I can't see that it would be really helpful in a bridal shop--you put on a big white lacy sparkly dress and you're going to look really good. You don't need a doctored mirror for that. But I can see why department stores might install them to encourage impulse purchases.

142.0

Again. I've been eating whatever I feel like, in terms of quantity, though I've been trying to make sure it qualifies as "food" most of the time. Probably not enough plants in my diet, though. I haven't exercised since swimming last Tuesday; my leg is definitely not better. No, I haven't gotten around to a doctor's appointment yet. One of these days!

Torture-fest 2010-2011

I did my first run today -- a short one -- just over two miles but it's what's prescribed in the 9-week training program for a half marathon. My main goal today was to see if anything hurt and to test out where I am physically. I actually felt good -- not aches or pains -- but I definitely need more fuel. Still need to eat lunch and that might've helped some.

My only obstacle on my short jog was a black snake that was tightly zig-zagged on the trail -- he was a little guy so I ran around him and he had moved on my way back. I'm fine with black snakes because I know there are copperheads around here and there not as friendly.

I signed up for the Celtic Solstice with Sarah -- the more the merrier. It could be 20 degrees or 80 degrees. Either way it looks like a blast.

I have an idea for a T-shirt -- it would say "This IS my happy face" and it would have one of those emoticons gritting its teeth because we LOVE pain. haha I might have to do it.

So one run down. I'm still alive and am happy for any company on my torture-fest ... I guess Emily is way ahead of me though.

Am I gonna regret this? Maybe.

During the past day or two -- prompted by Sarah's post about doing a century ride -- I started thinking about what I needed to do fitnesswise to drop more weight and get into better shape.

Then it hit me during Thursday's walk -- I need to start running again. I've been in denial about it and have mostly been wanting to enjoy my daily walks but I realized yesterday that I need to accelerate the pace of my weight loss and conditioning.

This epiphany led me to think crazy, crazy thoughts -- like maybe I can train like crazy and run the Atlanta half marathon on Thanksgiving Day? No, that's just stupid. But they do have a 5K and that would get my fat butt out on Turkey Day for some exercise. Hmmm ...

Then I found a triathlon that includes kayaking, running and biking -- 17 miles total -- that takes place in April. I immediately decided to recruit Sarah and vowed to teach her how to paddle a kayak straight -- even if it's not necessary.

Sarah then mentioned the Celtic Solstice race in December -- a 5-miler. Cool shirt. Not too long. Sounds good.

About 10 years ago I ran the Army 10-miler through DC. I ran the entire thing and was plenty happy about that. I had considered, at the time, training for a half marathon and ended up running shorter races.

Well, Disneyworld has a relatively new -- 3 years old -- Princess Half Marathon at the end of February. It's all girls and is in late February when I know I'll be fed up with winter weather and darkness.

WDW's other marathon and half marathon is in early January and I just wasn't sure if I'd be ready by then. This gives me four months and the promise of a trip to warmer climes in late winter. I may even turn it into a spring training trip.

So ... I think I'm going to train for it. Anyone want to go to Florida in the dead of winter? Let me know.

Overall my goal is to participate in one event a month. With the North Central bike ride in November and possibly the Atlanta 5K and Celtic Solstice in December that's two months down.

Now it's time to do the work for all these plans I'm making ... so come jump on the crazy train with me. Woohoo!

Swag

Sarah's comment on swag reminded me I wanted to sum up what was in the Baltimore Running Festival bags. They gave us an Under Armour T-shirt (in a hideous neon yellow, for the marathon; the half had a nicer shirt, though theirs was short-sleeved and ours was long), a cheapo pair of knitted gloves (which I realized the next day were perfect for a chilly 8 am start, because then you could toss them and leave them when you got warm), small packages of tomato-basil wheat thins, corn thins, and yogurt-covered pineapple chunks, a backpack-style reusable drawstring bag with the Geico Gecko on it (Alexander likes it), and tons of papers, mostly advertising other races. There was a 15% off Under Armour coupon and a $500 Red Star gift card (they do sunglasses, which I can't wear because I need a prescription, and you have to pay a 9% S&H fee, but otherwise they look like very good glasses -- so if you need some sport sunglasses let me know). They also linked us to an online "iGiftBag" which had numerous other discount offers, but they're almost entirely local to Baltimore (not surprising) so not much use to me. I really wasn't all that excited by the swag.

There. Now if somebody tries to Google the swag bags for this race, they'll get a hit. ;-)

Seagulls or geese?

First a brief update--I completely spaced last Tuesday and didn't even weigh myself that day. On Wednesday I was 143.6, so that'll have to be my official weight for the week. This week I was 144.2 on Tuesday. Wrong direction, but no great surprise given all the food I've been eating.

My exercise has been pretty good--last week was one run, one day on the elliptical. all the cycling around the marathon (29 miles) and then a five mile hike with the Scouts on Sunday. So far this week all I've done is a run on Monday (and I tried to take before and after pictures to show that unlike Emily I turn beet red and look awful after just 3.5 miles of running! It's like I stop and all of the heat in my body escapes out my head, making me red and sweaty and making my hair frizz. But the pictures didn't work--my cell phone can't catch subtleties like skin coloring.). I've got my stuff with me today for another trip to the gym.

Seagulls or geese is in regards to the century rides next year--there's the Seagull Century and the Wild Goose Chase. The Wild Goose Chase is sponsored by Terry Women's Cycling and is an all-women's ride that supports the Blackwater Wildlife Refuge. The ride is in the refuge and in and around Cambridge, Maryland (so basically the Chesapeake Bay part of the Eastern Shore). There are other events surrounding the main ride--guided kayak tours in the wildlife refuge are among the most interesting. Oddly, while I've seen maps with the 100 mile route shown for this ride, the website only lists rides up to 62 miles (a metric century) so I don't know what's up with that. If they aren't doing a "real" century then I'm not sure I'm really that interested. Accommodations before and after the ride are in area hotels and B&B's.

The Seagull Century is based out of Salisbury University and generally rides out to Asateague Island and through the eastern/beach part of the Eastern Shore (this year there were two century routes--one to Asateague and one through Snow Hill). It's a larger event (8,100 riders this year). There's no one charity that it supports, although lots of the participants are raising money for other organizations (often the same people you see at other events, like Team Fight and Team in Training). Lots of accomodation options (because there are more people, so they are packing them in all the Salisbury hotels, sending them to Ocean City and other areas, and generally using up all the hotel rooms in the vicinity), including camping. Lots of family-friendly entertainment (many of the pictures included kids along for the ride).

The real questions--who has the best shirt, swag, and food--I can't find answers to!

Both are in October (a week apart), both are dead flat routes. I don't have any real preference for which one to do. They'd both be nice. I suspect the Wild Goose Chase has more of a supportive-estrogen-fest-Iron-Girly feel to it, while the Seagull Century is more energetic-madhouse-party. Both have their appeal.

Any ideas on which one to do?

Week three

First, a huge congrats goes out to Emily for achieving her goal of running a marathon. Awesome.

I'm into my third week of my new routine and I have to say it's going pretty well. I'm beginning to feel the need for longer, harder workouts and am trying to push myself. I used the first couple of weeks to gauge my level of fitness and am now making a bigger push. I'm mixing up weights, cardio and exercises such as planks, squats, etc.

I tend to build strength quickly and that's happening again. So that forces me to reevaluate the amount of weight and reps.

Food has been good. I've focused on salads and have whipped up several homemade soups with all fresh ingredients. It's nice to have some soup ready to eat with the cooler weather.

The best part, of course, is in the difference in how I'm feeling and that I'm trimming down a bit. But there's much more work to be done.

142.0

That's my update for today. Yesterday I was at 140 even though I'd been taking in plenty of liquids (but not a lot of food -- I had to eat food slowly for a while because of my teeth, and then even when I'd eaten it my whole system tended to feel a bit weird, so I was eating what I craved but not very much of anything). But today I'm feeling 90% normal in terms of food and drink, and of course my weight hopped right back up to where it was. I guess I can't go on using the excuse "I just ran a marathon so I can eat whatever I want" for very long. Time to start paying attention to calories again. *Sigh*...

Race report

Well, as you all know, I survived. The first 9 miles were pretty good -- after that it was tough all the way, until about 23 miles, when I finally got a second wind. Then it was still tough, but I was able to make myself run a lot more. But stamina wasn't the problem; I was breathing well and wasn't tired in that respect, but my legs were in AWFUL pain. My IT-bands were never sore (and are still feeling good two days later, and I haven't even worn the straps since the race ended), but my right calf began to hurt (remember the first injury I had from marathon training, five months ago? Hasn't bothered me since? Sheesh) and my left quad (the one that was problematic last week) also ached (understatement of the year). My hamstrings were terrible, and they've never been an issue before. I had normal all-over achiness in my legs, but nothing I couldn't handle (if it had been by itself). My toes also hurt a lot -- I think I'm going to lose my big toenails from this, and the second two toenails were just starting to come back but probably won't for a while now -- but, again, that I could put up with. But the longer I went, the harder it was to make my legs keep running, or to start running after I walked. The first two or three running steps were excruciating each time. I was surrounded by people in the same state, though, so anytime I ran at all I passed a ton of people (but anytime I walked they streamed by me the same way). The people around me mostly looked familiar by the end!

For the first 13.1, I pretty much stuck to the 4-minutes-running-one-minute-walking plan, even though I felt silly in the first three miles (though I kept hearing other runners' walk timers go off, which made me feel better). Somewhere past the halfway mark, though, I remember thinking it wasn't SO bad if I didn't start running at 5 minutes, or if I stopped running at 3 minutes, and by 16 miles or so I realized that the timer was pointless if I was walking after a minute and not running until 10, and it was just making me feel guilty. I ended up just walking until I could bear running, then running until I couldn't anymore (which was never more than a minute or so for what seemed like a long, long way). But over the last three miles, which were mostly downhill, I found myself able to run for longer, so I probably ran as much as I walked in terms of time (and more running, in terms of distance).

Remarkable to me is that of roughly 5,000 registrants, only 3,361 people crossed the finish line. I wish I knew how many actually started, but it seems reasonable that only a few people (a hundred or two, anyway) who paid that registration wouldn't actually go through with the race to begin with. So some 1500 or so dropped out. Short of injury, how could that many people just lose the will to go on, given that they'd had the nerve in the first place? Sarah asked me how I kept going when I was so miserable. But I don't know that it ever seriously crossed my mind that I could quit. I kept going because that was what I had to do. If there was anything left in me, I was going to move forward.

The winds were pretty bad in the second half -- at one point when I was back to jogging there was a gust so hard that I wobbled (I was wobbly anyway, though), and I kicked myself in the other leg. Very weird. I'm glad I wasn't wearing a hat. No doubt the windiness contributed to my lack of enthusiasm -- I remember the lake as being the most depressing place in the course (when I'd been looking forward to it!) and that was also probably the windiest (but not where I kicked myself, because I barely ran at ALL around the lake).

But the course was really quite pretty, except for some of the industrial areas (I was sorry we didn't get to do the Ft. McHenry loop like they used to -- construction!); people who described the "ghettos" in race reports I've read were unnecessarily unkind (or don't remember Baltimore in the 80s). Even the poorest neighborhoods were pretty cool -- I love the colorful trim on so many of the houses! There were also very few stretches without people cheering (come to think of it, the lake loop was short on those, too -- another reason it was tough -- though there was at least a water table and food halfway round); I had been told in advance that that would be one of the best parts, and it really was. And there was SO much to eat on the course! In addition to the promised bananas, cereal bars, and gels (ick), there were people with a range of fresh fruit (oranges and grapes were awesome -- I actually turned around to get at the grapes), gummy bears, fruit snacks, swedish fish, Skittles, M&Ms, Twizzlers, and I don't know what-all. And even beer, though I didn't see any takers on that!! I took Skittles early on, but they left my hand sticky and colorful, which I didn't really want, and I got Skittles up my nose when I tried to rinse my mouth out while running, so after that I stuck to the snacks I had planned on (mostly Shot Bloks, but I also ate the sport beans at the lake, which were just perfect at that point) and any fresh fruit I could grab (except bananas, which seemed to be all the wrong texture). And a cereal bar at the lake, since I was actively feeling hungry at that point.

My final time was 5:10:21. The first half I averaged a 10:27 pace (2:17:00 was the split), which was fabulous for half a marathon, and the second half it was 13:14!! Stupid rebellious legs! I'm glad I did it (mostly) and I'm finally recovering (my teeth settled down last night, and I still limp only because of my left quad, but I'm about back to where I was a week ago, so by Saturday I'll be fine again). I really don't think I'll do another marathon, even if I could train injury-free and avoid the leg pain, however, because it's just not that interesting. Five hours of running is a long, dull time. A half marathon would have been all right, but a marathon is simply too much. You'd have to really love the feeling of running for its own sake, and I don't. I'm just thrilled that it's done.

Now I am NOT going to run for SIX WEEKS, and you can quote me on that. Not until November 27. I went swimming today and just did regular laps (a half a mile, which is a lot less exercise than I remember it being) -- my left leg couldn't help with flutter kick but I was surprised to find out that there was no problem with a breast stroke kick! By next week I should be up to bicycling (on a bike or at the gym) but I'm not even going to try it before then. Then I'll ease back into elliptical and other machine exercise as it seems appropriate.

Just trying to survive

After acquiring a second knee strap (which I am also allergic to, but I've decided I'd rather put up with the skin irritation than the IT pain until I get through Saturday) and a compression sock, my legs started feeling somewhat better. The compression sock was for that odd leg pain I alluded to last week -- I finally concluded that it was a posterior shin splint (as opposed to an anterior shin splint, the normal kind that you feel in the front of the shin, this is more behind the bone to the inside of the leg) and it needed shoring up. As long as I'm wearing the sock (which I do, 24 hours a day, except in the shower) I don't notice the discomfort. When I'm not wearing it, I don't really feel it, either, except that it seems a tiny bit tender; I don't plan to push my luck, though, so I'm wearing it until Saturday is done, at least.

Anyway. I went for a run this past Saturday, just over 6 miles, in the hopes that I could at least complete my last week of training. I stuck to flat roads and it seemed OK -- I got bored and tired but I had no problem getting through it. My IT-bands were fine (at least by my current standards). But afterwards my quads were sore -- the next day even worse, as expected (so much for maintaining my conditioning!!). On Monday they were a bit better so I attempted the 30 minute run on the schedule by running on the nice, flat, springy track at the gym. By last night, though, my left leg was aching terribly, and today it is in atrocious shape. To the point that I even tested it to see if I had a stress fracture (I don't seem to). ARGH! So I am NOT going to try tomorrow's run. At this point I am officially abandoning any pretense at training and am merely trying to let what remains of my non-shredded muscle tissue heal, and as of Sunday I am not going to run for six weeks, period. I may go back to swimming and bicycling and other non-weight-bearing exercise for a while, because if I skip exercise entirely I'll gain 20 pounds again, especially since Halloween and Thanksgiving are in my non-running period.

My weight today was 143 again. I haven't been dieting. In fact, I spent four days in Alabama, and given how I always eat there (there is CANDY all over the house, and meals tend to be very good but low on whole grains and high on fat and salt) it's remarkable that I didn't gain five pounds.

I can diet when the marathon is over. I am dreading Saturday.

Eat This Not That

I normally love these stories because I mostly never eat the foods being discussed, however, this one hit home.

My only complaint? Now 'n Laters instead of caramels - doesn't work. Neither does Tootsie rolls in place of Twix. They aren't at all similar, and therefore would not nip the craving in the bud. Just saying.

I am off to get my new car. Sigh.

I just want to report that I am JUST NOT RIGHT!! As you know, I was on a 10 day cruise ending on Oct 2. (BTW I wrote a post when I got home and another last Tuesday, but apparently, I can no longer post from my work computer...sigh). I weighed myself Sunday afternoon and was down just over 3 pounds from my last weigh in weight. Now, it was a very off time for me (Sunday, afternoon, etc.) so I took that weight with a grain of salt. However, last week on OFFICIAL weigh in day, I was down ANOTHER three pounds! So my weight was lower than my previous low weight of the summer (by .2 pounds). I forgot to weight myself today, to see if it was sustained, however, I am beginning to think that my weight and stomach issues are more anxiety related than anything. Whenever I go on vacation ( including Pennsic) I have virtually ZERO stomach problems. Even with the stress of my car last weekend and the bad weather in Canada, I had no reflux or anything. AS SOON AS I walked in the door at TESSCO, My reflux started up.

My conclusion to this is that I either need to win the lottery or get on some anti-anxiety medication!

A good week one

I stuck with my week one routine for food and exercise -- had a couple of sore days getting back into workouts -- and I feel great.

I got in some walks, biking, weight-lifting work and I'm continuing my quest to do 100 consecutive push-ups on a six-week plan. I'm on the slow plan for that but after only a week I've made great strides.

For me personally it's a matter of routine -- I can eat healthy and work out but I just need to program myself to do it.

So far I've lot a little weight but I'm mostly concerned with being consistent with the routine. Most of last week was used to get my rhythm and retrain myself to think about healthy eating, stretching out my portions into several meals and exercising. Now that I'm focused it's much easier to keep it going.

To-do list. Meal, exercise plan. Check. Check.

So I've gotten back to designing my meal and exercise plan. I did the meal plan first and wrapped up work -- mostly -- on the exercise plan last night.

I started with the meal plan yesterday and also started back -- after a long absence -- to start back on push-ups -- making my way toward 100 consecutive. Depressing start but that will change.

I've got a weights routine, cardio, a few other additions to keep things moving along.

Here's an example of my food menu:

Breakfast -- fruit smoothie with no-fat yogurt (add kale for fun)

Lunch -- Salad with tomatoes, onions and peppers with salsa for a dressing

Snack -- Yogurt and almonds

Dinner -- Grilled halibut with zukes and fairytale eggplant

Plenty of water.

Onward with the plan, downward with the pounds.

I didn't even try

This past week, I didn't even pretend like I was trying to drop weight. I kept up the moderate exercise (two runs, a bike ride, a short hike) but didn't curb my eating. I didn't overeat either--I just didn't cut down. The end result is that my weight is just .2 pounds different from last week (144.6 instead of 144.8). I'm now finding it hard to get the energy together to go to the gym. I didn't make it there yesterday, and I'm so cold and sleepy today that I don't want to move.

Argh! I can't win!

I finally got out to Dick's yesterday to see if I could get an IT-band strap there. They didn't have exactly that, but they had the dual straps that look more like a knee brace, and those had adjustable neoprene buffers to put where you need the most pressure. So I wore that all day yesterday -- it was surprisingly comfortable and seemed to be doing a lot of good (even with the NEW pain that cropped up on Sunday below my knee on the inside of my leg... sigh...). But at bedtime I took the strap off, and I discovered I am allergic to the neoprene!! The reaction wasn't too bad -- at first just some redness that I could have dismissed as a result from 8 or 10 hours of pressure, but it was accompanied by a burning sensation (took me a bit to realize it wasn't the IT-band itself, but on the surface) that soon gave rise to a rash. The rash was mostly gone by this morning, but from what I've read about the neoprene reaction (it's actually more likely a reaction to the chemicals they use to process it, but you can't wash them off) it gets worse if you keep exposing yourself to it, so I'm disinclined to use the brace again. It cost more than the IT-strap usually does, too, so I'm going to see if I can return it. Grrr.

They had a single strap, but it was designed to go below the knee. I tried it on in the store to see if I could wear it above the knee, and it slipped right down over my kneecap as soon as I moved. I also can't order the strap that Amazon has (with Amazon Prime, so I'd save on shipping) because it's neoprene, too, which means I'm going to have to order the same one I have, which costs more to ship.

My weight was 142.5 this morning. It has stayed in the 142-142.5 range all week -- surprisingly consistent! My entire success at the "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants" approach so far has been a switch to cereals with far fewer ingredients, a switch to cage-free eggs (but that was because of the egg farm stories -- gross), and a lot more vegetables at dinner. I've tried to keep my meat portions small at dinner, but I seem to be the only one trying for that. Oh, and it was fish four times this past week (two nights of leftovers, of course) so that's an improvement. I'm going to work on better lunches but we're trying to use up what we have (macaroni & cheese for the kids, some cans of ravioli for them, some lunchmeat with more ingredients than a package labeled "smoked ham" should have, etc.) first.

T-2 Weeks

My marathon will be over 14 days from now. (One way or another!) I went running on Tuesday evening, just 5k on a fairly flat surface, and my leg in the IT strap did pretty well, but my other leg hurt for a day or two afterwards. I went to the local running shop today and they were sold out of straps (it's marathon season, and every runner in town is injured) but I'm fairly certain I'm going to need a strap on each leg. With the straps, I think I can just manage to finish, but the time isn't going to be anywhere near what I hoped, I fear! They pack up the water stations if you average longer than a 16-minute mile. I've never been that slow, but we'll see!

At the running shop they showed me some more stretches and some strengthening exercises and told me absolutely NO downhills in the next two weeks! Otherwise they approved of what I've been doing. I went to the gym then and did 7 "miles" on the elliptical in about the same time I would take to run 7 miles (when I'm not injured, anyway). I had no knee problems and my quads got good and tired but nothing outrageous, so I don't think I've lost too much conditioning. My heart rate and sweat felt more like running than the pool jogging does, so I should probably be doing workouts like this as much as the swimming ones. I'm worrying about next weekend, though; I'll be in Alabama from Wednesday until Sunday, so it's running or nothing. Or driving an hour to find a gym where there's an elliptical I can use. If I can get another strap before we go (I'll try the big chain stores tomorrow, and if that fails I may pay for shipping to get it in time -- or maybe I should look at the stores in AL?) I'll try running, but I'll have to go about a mile from the house to get to the flat part of the road, and that means mostly running where the scary dog lives. :-(